First full day in Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam at 11:15 on Monday, July 23rd.  By the time we got through the airport and onto the train and to our apartment it was just after 1:00.  We were met by our host Peter and given lots of information about the apartment and the surrounding area.  We are in a great spot here. Just minutes walking to grocery stores, bars,restaurants, ferries, etc. Yesterday afternoon we took a short walk around our neighbourhood and happened to find just a perfect bar for us. It’s a small bar that serves mostly locals.  Nothing fancy but pretty good prices for both beer and wine.  Also the local grocery store has some very reasonably priced wines.  I bought a nice bottle of Malbec for 5.99 euros which is under nine dollars Canadian.  Can’t beat that!  It was 30 degrees when we arrived yesterday which is really hot for Amsterdam. Apparently it was 20 degrees and quite cool a few days before we arrived.  Anyway, with jet lag and heat , we were bushed.  Off to bed at 8:00 and I slept for 12 hours. Ian was in bed for 12 hours but had a pretty restless night.  So this morning we got up and out fairly early and walked down to Central station and just wandered around that area.  Today’s high was 37 degrees.  Brutally hot so we had to make several stops to cool down and hydrate.  And by hydrate I mean water.  That’s how hot it was!  For dinner tonight we found a really good Thai restaurant but rather than eat in the restaurant we brought our food home. Very few places have air conditioning and although our apartment doesn’t have A.C. either we are on the ground floor and we have two fans.  They have saved our lives. I don’t think I have ever been this hot in my life.  And tomorrow’s forecast is for 38 degrees.  We leave here for Copenhagen next Tuesday evening and that will be the coolest temperatures we will see.  And to boot, the humidity here is very high.  So I think tomorrow we will take a train trip out into the country to see some smaller villages and get away from the crowds.  I haven’t been hit by a car or bicycle yet but I’ve had a few close calls.  And I’ve only been yelled at by one driver.  So that’s pretty good don’t you think?  Anyway,  Ian’s been in bed since 7:30 and I think I’m going to follow shortly.